It is meant for those who want to buy and sell meat. But the Lagos abattoir is more than an ordinary meeting place for those selling and buying cow meat. It has the fun side, where revellers gather to have their field day. OLUWATOSIN OMONIYI, who monitored their activities, in this second part of the abattoir story, reports

The more you look at this market, it becomes the less you see. When Saturday Telegraph made several visits to the abattoir and its surroundings, it discovered untold shoddiness and funny like movements. But this is very difficult to differentiate especially as the place reeks of the smell of animals, faeces, and blood perhaps.

All a customer wants to do is bargain as much as possible, finish and leave the premises as soon possible. However, with patience and discernment, one could see beneath the surface of the usual buying, selling, pulling, offloading and slaughtering of cows and other animals.

There are about five sections within the market for relaxation after the day’s hard work. They are not just ordinary relaxation points, they are absolute playground for those who want to be lost to the world. The Lagos Abattoir Market is not just a meat market; it is a home to lost, forgotten and runaway children. The market serves more than one purpose.

Inside, they peddle drugs of all sorts, ranging from cocaine, marijuana to all different kinds of cough syrups that the world of pharmacy can offer. But the couph syrups are never meant to relief medical condition. Rather, it is a crude way of making those who take them ‘high’. Also ongoing inside the market is the world of prostitution mostly by underage girls.

There are about five points of relaxation namely Kongiri, Small London, Malaysia, China and Dubai. They were named according to perceived nature of enjoyment of these countries. Their lingua franca is Hausa language.

KONGIRI

Kongiri is named after a small town in Jos, Plateau State. But the Kongiri inside abattoir market, is an open vast ground which serves as both training ground for the young ones going into the sex business and for those who just want to have a ‘quickie’ before going back to their businesses. According to Ayomide Yahaya, 13, who has left home for four years, Kongiri is a ‘slaughter slab’ for married women and young girls who want to catch fun.“Here, we catch our fun. It supposed to be for the young ones that are newly introduced into the business and who are willing to go to the next level-small London.

But married women who don’t want to go through the stress of renting a room or who often can’t afford to pay for their goods- meat – that they bought in the market, will come here to have a quickie with those selling beefs. They have even taken the shine off us. The mallams prefer them to us, the young ones here.

They say the married women don’t demand money and no strings attach after the quickie,” she narrated. At Kongiri, Saturday Telegraph saw hundreds of underage children looking so unkempt roaming about and begging passers-by for money to feed. They practically hawk themselves almost naked. The young girls beg for money by raising their dress up to expose their private parts while the boys would expose their penises to any passers-by who care to look their way. That way, she said, they get their daily feeding money.

SMALL LONDON

At Small London, it is a different world. In fact, it could be best described as weird wild world. Saturday Telegraph observed that almost all the girls were below age 15 and had babies. They live in makeshift shanties made of planks and tarpaulin.Inside a tarpaulin, there could be about 12 girls including their babies. For these set of girls, their babies are no hindrance to their businesses.

Whenever their customers come around for sex, they push the babies to one side of the bed made of plank and have their enjoyment. Even the cry of the babies does not matter, it is business time and they have to do it first and babies can wait. The most pathetic is the story of seven-year-old Kemi, who got introduced to the world of sex at such a young age. According to Kemi’s mentor, Tope Ajagbe, 13, “Kemi can suck the ‘living daylight’ out of a man’s penis. She started sucking at the age of five and now she is perfect. Very soon, she will start twisting men in bed, as you can see, she is fine and shapely,” she said with glee. From 8p.m. in Small London, it becomes a free show for all as the girls go about in their enclave almost naked. Some had only panties on, while some walk about with just their bras on.

They smoke weed heavily in this part of abattoir market. The majority of their customers are cattle merchants from the North or those who guard the cattle inside the trucks from North to Lagos. According to Baba Wasi, as he is popularly called in and around the abattoir market, all the girls staying in Small London are those who ran away from homes, who having tasted this kind of enjoyment, will never go back home. He told Saturday Telegraph that the freedom and lifestyles the girls are exposed to, is too enticing for them to even spare a though for their homes. He revealed that their daily feeding habit is like that of a king having a feast.

“That’s the reason the girls do not like to go back home. They would rather bring in more of their friends. For us, it has become a lifestyle that we enjoy,” Baba Wasi said. Baba Wasi who was a guide to Saturday Telegraph reporter for two weeks said it takes grace of God for any child who enters that place to come out.

“The child should just be left to eternal condemnation,” he said. Most of the girls who spoke to Saturday Telegraph are in their early teens, the oldest being 13 years. For them, there’s no regret being in the business; it is just a normal way of living. In fact, they intend to become successful and pass it on to the next generation.

MALAYSIA

Malaysia is the ‘shadowing’ point where the mallams pick their preferred girls for the night. This point is close to the park where they board vehicles to Sokoto State or other parts of the North. Shockingly, often times, the bus bring girls from the North to the Lagos abattoir market. It is the more the merrier for them.

At Malaysia, no one knows who is who as all the women cover their heads with scarfs and wear long gowns. They sit in twos and threes chatting in loud voices. It’s a ploy to attract the attention of men who will pretend to be passing by or going inside the largest supermarket there. After walking up and down, they eventually settle down with their choice.

Five minutes after arrival, they begin to leave with the ladies to their respective corners. Malaysia comes alive from 9 p.m. daily with food vendors, barbecue vendors (Suya joints) and the queens of the night who throng there in their hundreds in heavily perfumed seethrough attires.

DUBAI

It is a world of drugs and gambling in Dubai. The commonly sold drugs in this part of the market are cough syrups of all sorts aside the regular hard drugs. This range from codeine to expectorant and ordinary cough syrup, including those that are possibly not known in Nigeria pharmaceutical circles, Dubai does not lack in supply to its customers.

Saturday Telegraph observed that practically all the people walking, playing snooker or gambling were half-conscious or not conscious at all, due to the effect of cough syrups they had taken. In fact, the few cows Saturday Telegraph saw roaming among them were staggering.

They looked weak, drowsy with saliva pouring uncontrollably from their mouths. Given the movement of the cows, they were obviously drugged, and not as active as normal animals should be. While on the snooker table, the boys put one carton each of any brand of cough syrup by their side, they go as far as betting with it. Surprisingly, Dubai has a rule which says you can only smooch but without any form of sex. Failure to obey means ostracism.

CHINA

China is the most sophisticated part of the abattoir. It is well built and organised, devoid of the usual market stench. China is not meant for every Tom Dick and Harry. It is a place meant for the big guys of the market and their friends from outside. Their women are classy and charming with heavy perfume on them. It is difficult to believe that such a place exists in such a filthy environment.

Yet, it does exist. It is a one-stop hidden centre for enjoyment, sex and its accessories like sex toys, body massage, and suntan corridor and spa. The exterior of the building clearly distinguishes the centre from the market- it stands out, decorated with blue glittering marbles. But for the fact that it was built inside the market, it should ordinarily compete with at least a four-star spa centre in a choice area.

The entry time is from 7p.m. with a thorough inspection at the entrance door. Inside, Saturday Telegraph learnt, it is enjoyment galore including strip teasing session.The tour guard also informed that they invite top artistes occasionally to perform inside the China centre. It is indeed a weird wild word as Saturday Telegraph saw some people in the sex act but in a very odd place. They were having it on a wrapper spread on the ground inside the cow shed where the cattle are kept. While some were enjoying themselves, others were eating and chatting freely as if nothing was going on around them.

There was no fear of being stamped upon by these cows, neither were they irritated by the stench emanating directly from the shed. It is indeed a different world for different folks. According to Baba Wasi, life inside abattoir is entirely a different, coded world understood and enjoyed only by it patrons. He revealed that most of the girls could no longer go home once they step into the relaxation areas of the market.

“They become hypnotised for life once they taste the lifestyle here especially as the mallams sleep with them. They also spoil the girls with huge amount of money,” he said. He added that half of the missing girls in Lagos are inside Lagos abattoir market where they metamorphose into a different lifestyle. The tour guide revealed further that he became an initiate of the market when his 12-year-old daughter got missing from the house. He said they spent four months searching for his daughter- Wasilat, until someone told him to go look for her in abattoir with her photograph. True to speculation, he found his daughter but she was obviously lost to the meat market world.

“My daughter told me point blank to forget about her. She told me to go adopt a baby or try to have another with her mother. I was shocked! I wept and pleaded with her but all pleas were ignored. A few days after, I resorted to spiritual means by going back to the market with a keg of Holy water to pour on her as instructed by my Chief Imam, to make her come back to her senses. Shockingly again, she already knew as she told me on the phone not to bother myself because she was not alone and friends could kill her if she deserted them,” he said.

He narrated further that, he did not give up on her. In an effort to rescue his daughter, he teamed up with the security officials at the gate. “From there I saw that life could be truly enjoyable inside the market. I decided to leave Wasilat to her life and world. Nine years after, I have not set my eyes on my daughter but I believe she is well and good,” he said.

Baba Wasi is not alone in his lamenta-tion, Hajia Yewande Lawal nearly ended up in jail over her missing cousin who was staying with her. Lawal, a textile merchants, told Saturday Telegraph that, Bose, her little cousin, was just 11 when she left home for the meat market. According to her, she brought Bose from Ilorin. Kwara State, to help her monitor her sales girls in the shop as she is a smart girl with native intelligence. Lawal believed Bose was introduced to the meat market through peer pressure group while she was assisting her at the shop.

However, on a tip off, Lawal went to abattoir market with Bose’s photograph; at the early hours of the day- 5 a.m. “I went to look for her.” At the entrance, she met two security men – Baba Wasi and one other man who told her that she could not go in except they helped her to search for the girl.

“I paid N5,000 to these men and within 30 minutes, they came out with Bose who has changed so much within two months of her disappearance. “My girl told me not to worry about her anymore and that she was sorry for leaving without informing me ahead but it was quite unfortunate that she could not follow me back home. Two years later, I went back, only to see Bose with a baby girl on her back with full make-up on her face. I offered to take the baby from her, she declined; I had no choice but to let her be. No doubt, it is very painful especially as her parents nearly put me into jail believing that I sold their daughter out,” she said. Lawal also pleaded with the Lagos State government to help look into the issue. “I plead with them to demolish the shanties and hideout. Let them take the girls for rehabilitation and put in place stringent measure to forestall the acts.

Child prostitution seems to be on the increase in Lagos. Ngozi Okoro, Lagos State coordinator, of Child Protection Network, a non-governmental organisation, confirmed this to Saturday Telegraph. She said her NGO in partnership with the Lagos State government and NAPTIP are working seriously to see to the eradication of child prostitution in Lagos.

“Most of the young girls are lured into prostitution by their peers and some are trafficked. They are tricked that there is job available for them in Lagos. However, we are creating more awareness about child prostitution in Lagos. But we are not aware of the young girls at the Lagos abattoir. I can assure you that we will work on that area, rehabilitate and make human beings of them again,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos Ministry of Agriculture through the permanent secretary, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya, denied knowledge of child prostitution in the abattoir. He said they were only aware of gambling and high consumption of alcohol which was the main reason for the demolition they carried out some months ago. “But now that you have called our attention to it, we will work with other relevant agencies and elders of the market to eradicate such practice,” he said

Child abuse: The silent epidemic

In Nigeria as is in many other African countries, a child is regarded as the property of the community. However, in recent times it appears the community is no longer able or willing to care for the well -being of their ‘property’ as every day children are being abused and broken. A slew of sexual predators keep emerging and are constantly launching attacks on the Nigerian child. BIWOM IKLAKI reports…

According to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2015, one in four girls and one in 10 boys in Nigerian had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. But that was in 2015, we are made to understand that the numbers are not so low any more.

According to Christianah Akindole, a Child Safety Advocate and Founder of the Christianah Faith Foundation, which is an organisation that creates awareness and educates people on Child Abuse; the numbers are much higher.

“My team and I started with awareness and prevention nine years ago, but here we are doing crises response. It has been hectic for my organisation in the past three months; maybe these abusers have decided to go on rampage this year,” she said.

She cited many cases of child sexual abuse that her organisation has been called to work with and each is more pathetic than the last.

“First a father has been abusing his four-year-old daughter since last year. The sad thing is that the mother of the child is aware but the pastor had begged her to forgive him, she didn’t report and the abuse continued.

It took an observant teacher to report the case. Unfortunately, the child already has STD. Thankfully, the man is in prison now,” she added.

The Christianah Fate Foundation is one of a handful of NGOs like Child Protection Network of Nigeria, Mirabel Centre and others that are devoted to educating and being the first responders in these situations of child abuse. They approach the education holistically by organising workshops where they educate the parents on prevention, signs of abuse in their children or wards and how to identify predators.

They also train teachers in schools and churches because sometimes, the children are more open with them. They empower the children that no one should touch their private parts and what to do if this happens; because the adults may not always be with them and when they are alone is when they are most vulnerable.

In a workshop held recently by the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) where issues of gender and sexual based violence were addressed, Director of the Directorate of Citizens’ Rights, Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Clara Ibirogba, who spoke about genderbased violence, child abuse as well as sexual assault, said all the issues are public health issues

“In Nigeria, there is a rise in cases of domestic violence and child abuse, not because there is an increase in the crime, but because more survivors are coming forward and there is more reporting (in the media) of such cases.” She explained some reasons for the reluctance of survivors to come forward as “associated stigma, confidentiality, privacy and fear of repercussions”.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police and former Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, Dolapo Badmus, who is a passionate advocate of the sexually abused, as is evident on her social media, was also a resource person. She took her lecture from the police angle.

She lamented the difficulty for survivors to report cases of violence and abuse because most of them are perpetrated by family members. In some cases, the survivors are coerced to pull back by things like cash, beverages and food items. Sometimes even parents of survivors tend to shield the perpetrators from the hand of the law because they do not want the family name to go to ruins.

So it is obvious that there are more cases out there than are reported even though the reported cases seem to be alarming lately. On best practices by the media, she cautioned on the need to report these cases with a sense of responsibility rather than seizing it as a chance to win awards.

Dr. Olive Ogedegbe, a Clinical Psychologist, spoke on the psychological aspect of Sexual Gender Based Violence which include but are not limited to emotional imbalance; in which case the child would be withdrawn, prone to violence, timid, low self-esteem and tend to internalise domestic violence as the best way to handle conflict. Mrs. Akindolie cited a teenage girl who was brought to her because she had slit her wrists attempting to commit suicide after going through harrowing experiences.

“The girl had suffered so much abuse and could no longer handle the physical and psychological trauma, she wanted to die.” On what may be responsible for the increase in cases of child abuse, Mrs. Akindolie opined: “Many parents don’t have time for children anymore due to economic demands and making ends meet. They delegate duties to relatives or domestic staff who often take advantage of the children.

“There was a case of a man who abused five children; three were his relatives. People are too unaware and trusting. It should not hurt to be a child.” Also, the trend of internet and pornography after watching these, predators would pounce on the children.

The five abused children said he showed them these videos before turning on them. Parents allowed their children to be too accessible. On the way forward, Mrs. Akindolie lamented that the job has been left for only NGOs. The government has not been too supportive except for Lagos State which is more pro-active in terms of enacting laws to fight the scourge.

Red Ants clear out ‘illegal invaders’ from Jo’burg properties

The Red Ants are a South African private security company specialising in clearing “illegal invaders” from properties. Two, sometimes three times a week, a convoy of trucks drives out of the gates of a sprawling farm in Gauteng province, carrying hundreds of men and led by “officers” armed with shotguns and handguns.

The company is rarely out of the headlines in South Africa and has been repeatedly accused of crimes ranging from theft to murder. It is fiercely criticised by human rights campaigners. But the attitude of the general public is more ambivalent – and the Red Ants themselves are fiercely loyal to each other and their employers. “We are a family. We look after each other … We have built a community,” says Johan Bosch, the farmer who founded and owns the company.

A lack of adequate housing is one of the most toxic legacies of the apartheid regime that governed South Africa for nearly 50 years. Families, migrant workers, students and homeless people pay middlemen for plots on wasteland around Pretoria and Johannesburg or in derelict buildings in the cities’ centres. Local authorities show little sympathy and say they have to enforce the law. Their chosen enforcers are the police and, to provide the manpower for evictions, the Red Ants.

Fattis Mansions was once a fashionable 1930s block of flats in the heart of the banking and legal district in Johannesburg. Wealthy, mainly white, residents fled Johannesburg’s centre during the late 1980s and early 1990s, leaving hundreds of buildings to be taken over by poor migrants from rural areas. Four hundred people shared three taps. There were no toilets or electricity. The city authorities have been clearing these “hijacked buildings” one at a time for years – often using the Red Ants.

The operation, involving 600 Red Ants, begins in the early morning, without warning. Wailing police sirens fill narrow streets. The Red Ants pour through an entrance, then proceed on rusting iron stairways and down filthy corridors. There is no resistance. The pushers, gang leaders and the rent extorters have gone. Rubbish, furniture, mattresses pile on the roadway outside.

The singing starts, low and purposeful, as the Red Ants work. Children are carried out, followed by distressed mothers clutching salvaged belongings in plastic bags. Most adults knew this would happen one day. For those too young to understand, the sky has fallen in.

Who are the men in the red overalls? They come from impoverished small former mining towns, from distant provincial villages in parched mountains, from Soweto, from hardscrabble neighbourhoods half hidden amid the urban sprawl of Johannesburg. Most are young.

Many are without basic educational qualifications. Some have criminal records. A few are former convicts. All are poor. They are paid the equivalent of $10 (£7.50) a day, plus some food. Many are squatters themselves.

One left neighbouring Mozambique to work on building sites but has struggled to find employment. “My wife said get a job … so I did,” he says, shrugging narrow shoulders. Another says he has siblings to feed and clothe and send to school: “No one likes doing this … But I go to church every Sunday and pray for my soul and I know my Lord is watching over me, even here.” All say they feel sorry for the squatters but “work is work”.

In charge are older men whose own life stories are intimately intertwined with the complex, troubled history of their nation. One fought in the 80s in the South African defence forces in cold war battles in Angola. Another, a former police officer from Soweto whose family was deeply involved in the struggle against apartheid, say his career ended when he denounced corruption. He says his work reminds him of his time in the police. He now suffers from chronic insomnia.

First you see the smoke, above the dry hills and the scattered corrugated iron homes. Then you hear the noise. If the operation is going well, it is that of a work site: hammers rhythmically striking metal, straining diesel engines, work songs, radios, and shouted orders. If the operation is going badly, the noise is of a battle: shattering glass, rocks striking plastic shields, stamping feet, shots, sirens and screamed abuse.

Sikhumbuzo Dlamini, a Red Ant leader, watches 650 men, equipped with crowbars and shields, and all dressed in identical red overalls and helmets, move through an illegal squatter camp on the ragged outskirts of Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa. “We always win. We have to win … we are on enemy territory. We are a long way from home,” Dlamini says.

One incident prompts a slew of new allegations. The Red Ants are hired to clear squatters from land where a shopping complex is due to be built in Lanesia, on the southern outskirts of Johannesburg. The operation starts in the early morning. But the squatters are ready and fight the Red Ants with machetes, rocks and staves.

The eviction stalls and the Red Ants withdraw. Two squatters lie on the ground. One is dying from head injuries, the other is dead. Under a tree, huddled in a plastic chair salvaged from her makeshift hut, a widow sobs. The violence prompts investigation by private security industry regulators. The Red Ants deny wrongdoing.

Red Ants are injured, sometimes even killed. Kervin Woods died when land invaders opened fire in Lenasia South. The Red Ants said community members stabbed him, some using screwdrivers, after he fell to the ground. Preparations were made to set fire to his body when Red Ants started shooting, dispersing the crowd.

Woods’s funeral takes place in Soweto. The dead man’s aunt weeps, comforted by a handful of family members and neighbours. But this is primarily a Red Ants funeral. Senior leaders salute the coffin and deliver short eulogies before the rank and file sing hymns as the coffin is closed. Then, as a guard of honour, they follow a hearse to a cemetery where they sing as each takes a turn with a shovel to pour dry soil into the grave.

Handguns and shotguns are fired into the air in a final salute before the Red Ants return to their buses and their base for a memorial meal. Within days, they are out on another clearance operation.

South Africa is a fractured land. It is optimistically known as the Rainbow Nation, a reference to the diversity of its communities. But in a rainbow, the colours remain separate. The most striking divide in South Africa is economic. The Red Ants are on the frontlines of a conflict between those with land and those without, the haves and the have-nots, the winners and the losers in one of the most unequal countries in the world. During their 12-hour days, they are on one side. But when their work is done, they return to the other.

APC with Adams Oshiomole: A time Bomb

One need, no microscope to identify the serious crack on the political wall holding the All Progressives Congress (APC) together as a political party already caused by the outcome of the various concluded congresses of the party; but the singular issue that may finally seal the coffin of the party is if those forcefully pushing for the chairmanship of Adams Oshiomole the immediate past Governor of Edo State.

Oshiomole is a good man and very strict on principles no doubt about that, but his chairmanship of APC at this time is a time bomb.

Everybody is aware that those pushing for his candidature are not doing so for the general interest of the party but for their selfish interest haven felt under Oyegun, the outgoing chairman, that they were not given a free hand to manipulate the party to their wishes.

What these people seem not to realize is that APC is a conglomerate of varying interests and in order to for the party to succeed all the various interests must be harmonised and accomodated at every given time which is what Oyegun led National Working Committee were doing.

The time frame between now and the Party’s National Convention slated for june could be a golden opportunity for the party to make the necessary corrections that would save them.

APC is on the brinx of total collapse if care is not taken; if those pushing forward Oshomole are not curtailed or stopped completely. If the APC stakeholders, both the high and the low are correctly and currently feeling the mood and pulse of the members, maybe they would understand the situation and carefully avoid the “tsunami” that might hit the party should those pushing Oshiomole for chairmanship succeeds.

Majority of the members across the nation are aggrieved for one reason or the other and the outcome of the various congresses have excalated the greviance in the various quarters; the only thing that can save the situation is the choice of a chairman that would be open and accessible to all interest parties.

Who would be the next chairman of APC is the only miracle that can save the party. Its is not a hidden fact that a National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his camp are the ones behind the candidature of Adams Oshiomole. This group has blackmailed President Muahmmadu Buhari into submitting to their demands and desires in controlling the Party as that is the only way they can support the Presidents re-election bid.

The President looking helpless seems to be agreeing with them. This group being beclouded by their selfish interest failed to accommodate the other interests in the party and this can only bring doom to the party even before the election. For APC to succeed, all various interests must be carried along in the choice of the next chairman.

Other groups feeling intimidated by the Tinubu camp with the President’s reluctant support are just silently waiting for the party and of cause President Buhari to make the mistake by installing Oshiomole then they will explode the bomb and bet me that would be the end of APC as a party.

Come to think of it, with the wealth of experience that Oshiomole has acquired over the years as a former governor, won’t it be better the President appoint him a minister in one of the serious ministries like Power or Labour or Transport, those areas that we have so much deficiencies to help rejig his administration. Instead of a mere Party Chairman won’t ‘Osho’ be better off serving this nation on a wider scope?

Pushing the Comrade into a toothless APC chairman is a monumental waste of a great human resources. He should be given the opportunity to serve Nigeria on a higher level.

Yes, he is one of the foundation pillars of the party, but should we use the palm oil meant to eat a full chicken to eat only the tiny legs? What the ruling party needs at this point is somebody who is completely neutral from the interest game going on in the Party.

Its a critical time for our dear APC and every effort should be made to avoid stepping on the landmines planted all around the party. The mood of Nigerians is not in the favour of the Party at all and crowning with excalated internal rangling would be suicidal. With the Comrade as chairman the party would be heading to the grave not even the gutters. Consensus must be reached to accomodate all the various interests at the National Convention. Somebody like Clement Ebri, a one time governor of the old Cross River should be looked at.

He has integrity, he is neutral; strong willed; experienced and above all efficient. He does not belong to any camp and he is a very good manager of people. With Somebody like Clement Ebri, every nerves in the party would be calmed because its sure every interest would be at ease.

Ebri will receive acceptance among all the stakeholders and members alike. He is a perfect gentle and a true leader. This is the kind of consensus candidature that APC should be pursuing at this juncture. Knowing very well that Comrade Oshiomole is being projected by the Tinubu camp, how would anybody expect the Saraki camp to accept him? What about the interest of the nPDP, how are they sure of their future in the Party?

And many other interests right down to the various states, local government areas and wards. I pray that the APC stakeholders would come to their senses and do the right thing to save the situation for some of us that look up to the party to bring a good change. I pray that APC won’t come from their record breaking achievement as the first party to take over power from an incumbent President to being the shortest ever lived political party in Africa. A stitch in time they say, saves nine.

I call on the President also to please think about the mistake that is about to happen and find a way of convincing the Asiwaju camp to realize the implications attached to the Oshiomole chairmanship. I believe they will see reason. Clement Ebri is very a very accommodating gentleman who will surely protect all the interests in the party in such a way that the party might survive and continue to shine. Let common sense prevail and may the change in leadership be a positive change to all members.